Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Document A/67/301 (August 2012), presented to the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly on 22 October 2012
In this report, UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples James Anaya provides comments on the need to harmonize the myriad UN activities that affect indigenous peoples. Specific UN processes and programmes reviewed include those related to: UNESCO, including the World Heritage Convention and the development of a UNESCO policy on indigenous peoples; FAO, including the Voluntary Guidelines on the responsible governance of tenure of land, fisheries and forests; WIPO, including the IGC negotiations on intellectual property and genetic resources, traditional knowledge and traditional cultural expressions; CBD, including the Nagoya Protocol on access and benefit-sharing; UNFCCC; UNCSD; the World Bank Group, including the currently ongoing review process of all safeguard policies and the revision of the IFC performance standard on environmental and social sustainability; and REDD programmes.
The Special Rapporteur notes that the UN system has done important work to promote the rights of indigenous peoples. However, greater efforts are needed to maximize action throughout the UN system to promote the rights of indigenous peoples and to ensure that all actions within the system which affect indigenous peoples are in harmony with their rights, particularly their rights as affirmed by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Download the report [pdf] …